406 Birthday Dinner (2/2)
I held out my hand so Dave could hand me something. I looked down. Then immediately looked up at him. "We're doing this again??" I was handed a party popper.
"Yea, of course!" Dave nodded like it was a given. "After dinner, they'll bring out ice cream and sing 'happy birthday' to Zeke. As soon as they finish, we'll catch him off guard."
Feeling unsure, I looked to Mr. and Mrs. Atkins. "Is this really okay? What if we get in trouble? This is a pretty nice place to eat."
Dave waved away my worries. "It's fine. Dad will be recording the whole thing!"
Oh. So he's in on it?
"Quick, put it away. Zeke and Noah are already back." Dave sat up straight and broke out into a random conversation with Kyle.
I stuffed the party popper in my pocket before the two of them came back.
With a full table, it reminded me of being at their house, just in a fancier setting. It didn't stop the twins from bickering or Noah's bragging. Mr. Atkins would scold them accordingly, but overall, dinner was still harmonious. My mother and I never sat down and celebrated my birthday, let alone eat out together like this.
After the food came out, it calmed down until everyone finished eating. Then it came time for dessert.
Mr. Atkins had us get up and surround Zeke as he stayed seated. Mrs. Atkins joined in as well as Mr. Atkins started to record using his phone. A couple of servers brought out the ice cream and laid out one with a candle right in front of Zeke. Then we sang.
Zeke smiled and even laughed as the twins fought to be the loudest. Mrs. Atkins looked extremely embarrassed as the whole restaurant was looking our way. I was fidgeting with the attention, but being surrounded by the Atkins helped.
As we got towards the end, Dave nudged me with his elbow. I stealthily pulled out the party popper that I was given earlier.
Right at the end, with Dave's signal, me and the twins lifted the poppers and pulled them. A loud bang followed by the fall of streamers made Mrs. Atkins jump back in surprise. Even Noah flinched.
Noah looked at me and I looked at him. We were both equally stunned.
"What just happened?" He asked.
"You didn't get one?" I slowly lifted my broken popper.
Noah started to laugh, joining the twins who were congratulating Zeke on breaking his own homerun record on his birthday.
"David and Kyle." Mrs. Atkins pulled an arm of each boy. "What were you two thinking?? We're in public! Can't you two behave yourself?"
"Jake did it too, Mom." Dave sold me out.
The broken popper in my hand felt like a twenty-pound brick.
"You probably tricked him into it!" Noah defended me.
"Hey, hey. Equal treatment." Kyle smirked. "You do the crime, you do the time."
"I'm glad you know that." Mr. Atkins walked over. "Because you two are in so much trouble."
Dave put his arm around my shoulders, pushing me forward. "Start with Jake."
Mr. Atkins looked down at me, making me feel small. It's always hard to remember that he's taller than Zeke. It's like facing off with a statue. "No cages this weekend." He looked to the twins. "You both are grounded and no tv for one week."
"What!"
"That's not fair."
"Why doesn't Jake lose his tv privileges?"
I shifted my weight back and forth, feeling guilty. Guilty for not being punished the same amount as the twins. It made me feel excluded like I wasn't on their level.
"Because you two are older and know better." Mr. Atkins said. "Plus you contributed to the delinquency of a minor. You're teaching Jake bad habits."
"Dad, it's not that serious." Dave scoffed.
"And it was pretty funny." Kyle added.
"Rules are rules." Mr. Atkins shook his head. "Now sit down and eat before the ice cream melts." He glanced at Zeke. "Why can't you boys be more like Zeke?"
Zeke wasn't paying any attention to us and was solely focused on eating his ice cream.
Everyone went back to their seats and started to eat.
"Who would want to be a robot?" Dave muttered.
Kyle looked to his dad. "Can I see the video? I want to know if Zeke even flinched."
"Same!" Noah nodded, stuffing his mouth with a scoop of ice cream.